Axis crossing, p.24
Axis Crossing, page 24
“Doell said there wasn’t time for bureaucratic maneuverings,” Harlyn replied.
“Shush,” Dahlia hissed softly. “Here it comes.”
Eyes turned toward the drone’s broadcast.
“Greetings, Director of Operations Peter Doell,” Miriamal said. “These are my associates, Theda and Peña.”
Had the Beta Two humans been aware of SADE history, they would have noticed that Theda and Peña, like Miriamal, had adopted Méridien female appearances. As such, they projected striking faces. Even more specifically, Theda copied the genetic sequence that had produced a fiery redhead revered by other SADEs, and Peña was styled in the manner of a famous medical Méridien who served aboard a prominent city-ship.
“Welcome to Beta Two,” Doell replied. “Why don’t we retire to my conference room to discuss your needs?”
“We’ve a different idea,” Miriamal replied. “As there must be citizens in your domes who are unsettled by our visitation, it’s our intention to prove our goodwill.”
“How do you suggest you can do that?” Jeffrey, the engineer, requested.
Doell fought to keep a neutral expression. He hadn’t expected any of the department heads to speak, and he was irritated that they were stealing his moment.
“We’re aware that injuries are prevalent in your excavation of this planet,” Peña replied. “We’ve a therapy created for biologicals that promotes fast healing. In circumstances where death is imminent, our technology can often save the patient.”
“We’ve such a situation now,” Saran, the personnel head, said. “Do you have the technology with you, and has it been tested on humans?”
Peña delivered a winning smile and said, “The tech was developed for humans, and, as a medical specialist, I always carry some of it with me.”
“Director,” Saran said, “dome two has recovered three miners in serious medical trouble. There was a gas pocket explosion about thirty minutes ago. Two of the miners aren’t expected to live.”
“Then, with your permission, Director Doell, we should attend them immediately,” Miriamal suggested.
Doell felt as if the entire occasion had been taken out of his hands. He had visions of sitting with the SADEs and planning out how he would guide the domes to facilitate their needs and acquire their technology. The alien tech would ensure his rise in the corporation.
“Certainly,” Doell replied, as graciously as he could manage. He had no idea that, in a tick of time, the SADEs had detected the microtremors in his voice and discussed the reasons for the director’s hesitancy.
To Doell’s and the department heads’ surprise, Miriamal led the way. Unerringly, the three SADEs took the quickest path to dome two.
Loaded into a transport in the main tunnel, Theda drove the vehicle above the vehicle’s speed limiter.
The department heads shared shocked glances, as the transport slewed around other vehicles and pedestrians. In record time, the group was under dome two and riding a freight elevator upward.
“Interesting augmentations, Commander,” Peña said.
Bethany was the only security member to accompany the group.
“I should like to discuss alternative protection for you when you have the opportunity,” Peña continued.
“Some of the modifications can’t be reversed,” Bethany replied.
“For your medical services, Commander, not for ours,” Peña said.
Before Bethany could ask a question, the freight elevator opened to the rear of the medical services facility.
“We received your message, Director Doell,” the medical director said. “All three patients have given their consent. We haven’t much time for two of them. This way, please.”
Doell hurried after the physician, like everyone else did. He kept the thought to himself that he hadn’t sent any message.
In the first operating room, the medical director told the operating team to step back.
A man lay on the table. The surgeon had stopped the severe external bleeding, but the patient had organ damage that ensured that no matter what the medical team tried they wouldn’t save his life.
Peña attached an inducer to the man’s temple. Then she injected large doses of medical nanites into the central torso area.
“What’s in the solution?” the emergency room physician inquired.
“Medical nanites,” Miriamal answered. “Where’s the next patient?”
“This way,” the medical director replied. He pushed past those individuals who’d crowded into the surgical facility. The thought occurred to him that they’d contaminated the operating theater. Of course, at this stage in the patient’s eventual demise, it didn’t really matter what bacteria or viruses they’d brought with them.
In the second room, a woman’s legs were the focus of the operating team.
Peña scanned the imagery of the legs, which had been crushed in many places. “Don’t bother opening the legs,” she ordered. “Wrap them so as to bring the bones into as close an approximation of their original positions as possible.”
“We’ve internal bleeding,” the head of the operating team objected.
Before anyone else could speak, Miriamal and Theda gently but swiftly swept the team aside. While Peña employed an inducer to the temple, the other two SADEs used lengths of surgical gauze to wrap the legs. They utilized synth skin sensors to feel the consistency of flesh and bone under their fingers. Within several minutes, they were finished.
“Where’s the third patient?” Miriamal asked.
“Hold on,” the team’s surgical leader demanded. “What about this patient?”
“Your efforts would have been useless,” Peña pronounced. “We’ll keep the patient under for about two of your cycles. Afterward, she’ll soon walk out of here.”
“What medications or treatments are we to give her in the interim?” a nurse technician asked.
“Nothing,” Peña said. “Don’t disturb the patient. That includes not moving her. Otherwise, you’re likely to disturb the efforts of the nanites.”
“The third individual,” Peña repeated.
The surgeon’s eyes implored the medical director, who had brought the SADEs. In turn, the director shrugged and led the SADEs to the next operating theater.
A male displayed burns over much of the face and upper torso. There was the distinct possibility of infection in the suppurating skin.
“We can repair all of this after we stabilize the patient,” the lead surgeon announced. “Our efforts will take about seven days. As he is a supervisor, the company will expend the effort to return him to his original appearance.”
“Generous of the company,” Miriamal remarked. Her glance toward Doell was uncomplimentary.
Peña quickly delivered her services to the patient, and she told the surgeon that he could place the man in recovery.
In the corridor, the medical director and the three lead surgeons confronted the SADEs.
“We’ve questions and concerns,” the medical director said.
“Of course, you do,” Miriamal replied. “Our tech is foreign to you. We can appreciate that it must be disconcerting. You’ll have to excuse our presuming control of your medical facilities. To us, the saving of lives was our imperative.”
Miriamal’s words mollified the medical staff, which it was designed to do.
“What are the potential adverse effects of the nanites?” a surgeon asked.
“None,” Peña replied.
“None?” queried the surgeon.
Peña quirked her head, indicating that the human shouldn’t question her statement.
“Can they be removed?” a second surgeon inquired.
“That won’t be necessary,” Peña replied, relaxing her face and expressing sympathy for the surgeon’s confusion. “The nanites will cease function in about thirty of your cycles. When they become inactive, the body will sweep them from the tissues into the bloodstream. The liver will filter them out, and the body will expel them in the urine.”
“Is there a chance of the nanites clogging veins or capillaries?” the medical director asked.
“None,” Peña replied. “The nanites are much smaller than human cells. Their effectiveness is due to their number not their size.”
“Providing your technology saves these two critical patients, could we get more of these nanites?” the medical director asked.
“Certainly,” Miriamal replied. “In time and with your cooperation, we could teach you to manufacture them. Now, Director Doell, let us have the discussion that you wished.”
Behind the retreating SADEs, X-Ore’s senior management, and the commander, the surgeons returned to their operating theaters to monitor their patients.
At the start, new internal scans were taken every half hour for progress comparisons.
“This is amazing,” a senior medical tech, who oversaw the woman with the crushed legs, remarked to a surgeon. “It’s like watching bone move in slow motion.”
“And the bleeding?” the surgeon inquired, peering at the computer projection.
“By the time I took the first scan, the bleeding had stopped. It’s never returned. In fact, the clots are disappearing,” the tech replied.
The surgeon hurried to the bay, which held the other critical patient.
“Are you seeing the same miraculous results?” the visiting surgeon asked the female surgeon, who had been peering at the latest scan with her med tech.
“I was sure this man was gone,” the woman replied.
“What’s his status?” the male surgeon asked.
“Stable,” the woman replied. “Bleeding slowed within the first few minutes. It was entirely shut down after ten minutes.”
“Clots disappearing?” the man asked.
“Yes,” the woman replied, her voice expressing amazement. “Yours too?”
“Same thing,” the man replied. “My tech started taking scans every five minutes now.”
“Why so often?” the woman inquired.
“He’s stitching the images together. He says it’s like watching bone move in slow motion,” the man replied. His eyebrows lifted, expressing his own quandary at the patients’ medical developments.
The female surgeon glanced at her tech, who replied, “I’m on it.”
21: Influence Campaigns
Several days later, Harlyn left the specialist team to speak with Ricardo and Knut. When she arrived in the flight controller’s office, Ricardo was watching news on his computer.
The host was describing the outcome from the SADEs’ intervention with the injured miners.
“According to a spokesperson for medical services, a man and a woman were brought to the facilities in critical condition,” the female host said. “They weren’t expected to survive their emergency operations. Our guests delivered medical tech described by a physician as a means of temporarily placing a patient unconscious by a small device against the temple. Then Peña, the SADE medical officer, administered doses of a solution of nanites.”
The host paused to read her lines, as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to say.
“The medical director was quoted as saying that the nanites saved the lives of the two critical patients,” the host continued. “Today, we were treated to the amazing efficacy of the nanites technology.”
The image switched to a shot of the man and woman walking out of medical facilities. They were smiling at the medical staff.
“I know him,” Knut said, pointing. “He’s a clone. No way would the company have put much effort into saving him. Even if they could have, he wouldn’t get repaired to that extent. Look at him. He looks healthy, like he never worked in a mine.”
“I know the woman,” Ricardo added. “She looks six to seven years younger, and she used to have a prominent scar on her forehead. It’s gone now.”
“The third patient, a supervisor, was severely burned,” the host said. “For our viewers, the medical director, with the patient’s approval, has provided before and after images.”
In the projection, the severely burned face and upper torso of the man caused their stomachs to turn queasy.
“That’s messed up,” Knut commented.
“True, but look at the after shot,” Harlyn directed. “We know this supervisor. He hasn’t looked this good in a long while.”
“The SADE leader, Miriamal, has consented to share much of the stored medical nanites contained aboard the Dominance, their ship,” the host said. “Director Doell says X-Ore will be supplied with enough nanites to repair about twelve percent of the population. According to Peña, the SADE medical officer, the repairs will return a human’s body to an optimum state. It should be noted that genetic abnormalities must be repaired by conventional medicine before the nanites can be applied. We’ve this from Director Doell.”
Doell’s smug face appeared, and he said, “I’ve negotiated with our guests to provide our population with more nanites. In exchange, they’ll teach us how to manufacture nanites, and we’ll provide them with the raw material to repair their ship. In that regard, they’ll have jurisdiction over some of our mining processes to obtain the minerals they require.”
“When did these aliens become our guests?” Knut groused.
“Medical services will notify each citizen when their nanites injections are ready,” the host concluded. “Each citizen will have the freedom to elect whether to receive the shot. However, in the event the nanites are refused, the citizens will be placed at the end of the population’s line if they were to change their minds.”
Ricardo switched off the projection. “What did you want to talk about, Harlyn?” he asked.
“I’m isolated with the specialists,” Harlyn replied. “I’ve tried to talk to Doell, but he won’t see me.”
“That’s because you’ve got the wrong opinion about our guests,” Ricardo explained. He said “guest” in a parody of Doell’s mannerism. “So do I, which is why I’m on the outside too.”
“What’s the mood of our citizens?” Harlyn asked.
“Divided, but it’s shifting,” Knut replied. “Many were fearful when the SADEs entered our dome without an invitation. However, the medical nanites opened their eyes to the opportunities of gifts falling from above.” His sarcasm was evident.
“After that news broadcast, I think we’re going to see many more citizens embracing the SADEs’ viewpoint and desires,” Ricardo said.
“Do the specialists still think the way we did when we left the alien ship?” Knut asked. “And, by the way, who chooses to name a ship Dominance?”
“The specialists who visited the SADEs’ ship haven’t changed their opinions,” Harlyn responded. “If anything, they think the SADEs’ methods only confirm what they’ve thought.”
“Which is what?” Ricardo asked.
“That the SADEs have ulterior motives for coming here,” Harlyn replied. “They believe that the medical nanites are like treats that you tempt children to do as you request.”
“That’s what I think,” Knut declared.
“To what end?” Ricardo asked. “They could take what they want from us and be gone.”
Harlyn stared quietly at Ricardo, waiting for him to find his own answer.
“Oh, no,” Ricardo softly mouthed. “They don’t intend to leave.”
“That’s exactly what the specialists think,” Harlyn affirmed.
“So what? We’re to be used to repair their ship and make whatever else they want?” Ricardo inquired.
“Who says their ship needs repair?” Knut interjected. “We’ve seen no indication of damage. Not on the hull, nor in the interior.”
“So, if the damaged ship is a pretense, then almost everything that the SADEs say is suspect,” Ricardo realized.
“Now your thinking is in line with the specialists,” Harlyn said, “and if the citizens align with the SADEs’ wishes, then I think this planet will no longer be a corporate world.”
“I don’t think Doell will let that happen,” Ricardo objected.
Harlyn smiled sadly at him.
“You’re right,” Ricardo amended. “Doell will present his newfound friends to the X-Ore board of directors as his treasure find, and they’ll want what he’s discovered.”
“Good talk,” Knut added. “Now, I’m totally depressed.”
“Have the specialists any suggestions about how we can resist the SADEs?” Ricardo asked.
“No, they don’t,” Harlyn replied. “We don’t have access to the broadcasts, and the SADEs have the superior technology. They think it’s only a matter of time until the SADEs have complete control of the planet.”
∞
Doell met with his department heads to announce his new intentions. “We’re going to let Miriamal direct our entire engineering operation,” he announced.
Jeffrey Witcher, the engineer, gritted his teeth. It was better to let Doell finish before raising objections.
“I know we have production schedules to keep, but I see the gains from the SADEs as much more valuable than ore and frozen gas shipments,” Doell declared. “In that regard, Jeffrey, I need you to work closely with whoever directs the SADEs’ manufacturing processes. If we can’t replicate their work, then this is all for naught.”
“What if they don’t choose to share?” Jeffrey asked.
“It’s your job to insinuate yourself into their good graces,” Doell insisted. “Do what you have to do to learn what they know.”
Turning to Saran, the personnel head, Doell said, “I need a campaign from you. We need the citizens’ cooperation in this endeavor. That starts with the medical nanites. Keep broadcasting the stories of their effectiveness. I want to see the medical appointments full, and the citizens showing. Do interviews and stuff like that. Be creative.”
“When and how do we inform the corporation’s directors that our shipments will be dropping, because you’re embracing alien technology?” Elisabeth Flaum, the dome facilities head, asked. “We can message a warning to them, but we don’t know the actual numbers yet.”
